28 March 2012

Hisaki Wasabi Peas (Pinoy Foods, Birmingham Indoor Market) [By @SpectreUK]



These Hisaki Wasabi Peas were described on the front of the bag as; “Asian fire snacks”. There was a graphic of a Japanese Rising Sun on front of the bag and a design of a dragon breathing fire on the back. Apparently there was an old proverb that stated; “Burn bright, breathe Hisaki fire into your soul.” The print on the back of the packet went on to say that legend stated that the discovery of the wasabi plant’s heat would cleanse the mind and purify the body. Therefore, I was expecting a very hot snack; I was expecting my senses to explode like a Japanese Rising Sun and my body to become a temple! These Hisaki Wasabi Peas were produced in Thailand for Hisaki Snacks UK Limited, in Rugeley (which didn’t sound very Japanese). Their ingredients included no hydrogenated fats, consisting of green peas, wheat flour, wasabi, palm oil, and sunflower oil. The bag contained 40g of Wasabi Peas which equated to 180 calories. The allergy advice on the packet stated that these Wasabi Peas contained gluten, soya, mustard and nuts.

On opening the bag, I noticed it was full of dried wheat covered green peas. Popping one in my mouth I found that it had a mildly oily taste to start with, which was very quickly replaced by a sweet and seriously nose blazing wasabi burn, followed after a short time by a wheat and pea flavour. My senses certainly did explode on eating the first few Wasabi Peas. They were sweet, nose jinglingly fiery, crunchy and very tasty peas. There was finally a sweet wasabi, wheat and pea aftertaste. I found these Wasabi Peas very moreish indeed and had a good laugh sharing them with Cinabar and her Mom and seeing their faces contort on eating the first couple of peas. I reckoned the dragon on the back of the bag wasn’t breathing fire; it was just sneezing from eating these Wasabi Peas! However, our noses became used to the burn after a short while and we settled down to enjoy the pure sweet Wasabi, wheat and pea flavour. As they were greens, I felt these Wasabi Peas were healthier than dumping endless spicy nuts or crisps down my throat. After I’d got over the initial few Wasabi Peas and their explosions in my nose, I really enjoyed them and would recommend these Wasabi Peas to any hot and spicy snack lover out there.
By Spectre

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